Auto Insurance Brokers – Did you Know your Credit History Can Affect your Premium?

Auto insurance brokers are better than getting quotes from just one “big name company.” Why? Because many – if not most – auto insurance companies use your credit history when factoring how much they charge you.

Their reasoning is that there is a connection between your credit behavior and the amount of claims you are likely to file. Though you may disagree, they believe that people with a better credit history will, in all probability, have fewer insurance losses.

Many companies still use the old tried and true method of age, type of car you drive, number of tickets you have received and where you live to gauge their rate. And again, auto insurance brokers take this into account when putting in your information and shopping for the best rates for you, thus saving you a lot of calling around.

When my wife and I moved from Southern California (where traffic is terrible and there was an accident on almost every major freeway every single day) to Sun City West, Arizona I expected to pay a lot less for car insurance (since it is a retirement community). I got the surprise of my life when my rate went up $250 per year. I was told this was because there were too many elderly people driving here who shouldn’t be driving. I didn’t like being called elderly at all. I was only 65. But since living here for a while I can see their point. Many of the people over 70 drive too slow and their reactions are much slower, thus causing a lot of the accidents on the streets here.

You may think it is not fair for your auto insurance company to be able to look at your credit report but the government says they can do just that. The Federal Fair Credit Reporting Act allows them to do it. It says they may use “Reasonable procedures” and credit history has been ruled as one of them – this also covers consumer credit, insurance, and employment as long as it is fair and equitable.

If you have bad credit then applying for an online quote from one of the big insurance companies won’t be accurate. My daughter used to sell cars and many of her customers with bad credit were quoted one rate online and another when they actually went to establish the insurance, because that’s when the credit got pulled and everything was adjusted. If you look at their sites you will see a disclaimer telling you that this is just a “quote” and that other factors may cause the rate to increase. This is why using an auto insurance broker is better. They will put all the information into the system “up front” and the quotes you get from them won’t change.

Another thing insurance companies look at is your insurance credit score – never heard of it? Well it’s there. The insurance credit score was developed by the insurance companies by using the same methods as the credit bureaus to predict your risk factors.